LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 11 November 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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The Arabic Origins of Determiners in English and
European Languages:
A Lexical Root Theory Approach

Zaidan Ali Jassem, Ph.D.

Abstract

This paper examines the genetic relationship between determiners such as the definite and indefinite articles and demonstrative pronouns in Arabic and English mainly as well as German, French, and Latin secondarily. Converse to traditional views in comparative historical linguistics in which Arabic and English, for example, are classified as members of different language families, it shows how such determiners are related to and derived from one another, where Arabic may be their end origin. The paper applies the principles and tools of the lexical root theory according to which the determiners are shown to be true cognates in having the same or similar forms and meanings with slight phonetic, morphological and semantic changes. For example, the definite articles in English and German are demonstrative pronouns in essence, whose true Arabic cognate is tha 'this'; the indefinite articles derive from one, whose Arabic cognate is awwal/oola 'one (m/f)' where /l/ turned into /n/; the definite articles al in Arabic, le/la in French, el/la in Spanish, and Italian are identical cognates to which English all and German alle are similar.

1. Introduction

The languages of the world are classified by comparative historical linguists into families and subfamilies on the basis of formal and semantic similarities between words, known as cognates, which are defined as words of the same or similar forms and meanings in two or more languages such as mother, father in English and Mutter, Vater in German (e.g., Pyles and Algeo 1993: 76-77; Crowley 1997: 88-90, 175-178; Campbell 2004: 126-128; Yule 2010: 226; Crystal 2010: 301). Cognates make up the universal core or basic vocabulary of language which cannot be borrowed across languages, including pronouns, numerals, certain body parts, geographical features and phenomena, certain plant and animal names, basic actions, basic states, certain cultural terms, and taboo words for sex and excretion (Pyles and Algeo 1993: 76-77; Crowley 1997: 88-90, 175-178). General or peripheral vocabulary comprise non-cognates, which express culture-specific concepts that may be borrowed from other tongues (Crowley 1997: 171-172).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Zaidan Ali Jassem, PhD
Department of English Language and Translation
Qassim University,
P.O. Box 6611
Buraidah
KSA
zajassems@gmail.com
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